This is the Alfa Romeo Stelvio Veloce. Alfa Romeo’s first SUV and it’s been around for a few years, but this is our first experience with the spicy Veloce trim. While it’s not the V6 Quadrifoglio, it still makes some pretty serious power so let’s see how veloce the veloce is
Driving Impressions
I know these modern Alfas aren’t as true Italian as they once were, but even still there’s something special about behind the wheel of an Alfa
You get in, put your foot on the brake, and press the steering wheel button to turn the car on
I mean, that’s so Ferrari
And then once you set off you’ve got paddle shifters a mile long
There’s just an over the top element here that’s kinda fun
But in more quantitative terms let’s talk engine. It’s a 2.0T 4 cylinder that’s boosted up to 280 hp and 306 lbft of torque and all that power makes its way to all 4 wheels through a snappy 8 speed transmission
But let’s revisit that, almost 300 hp and over 300 lbft IN A 4 CYLINDER!
I mean this is SERIOUS power here
And this thing is only about 4000 lbs so with all the power and all-wheel traction it jumps to 60 in under 6 seconds
If you need more pace there’s a Stelvio Quadrifoglio which is possibly the most fun performance compact SUV…BUT the you still get plenty of pep here in the Veloce AND it’s relatively efficient with 25 mpg combined
Ok back to the things you WONT see on the spec sheet
TBH the things you DONT see on the spec sheet are some of the best parts of this car
Like the steering for example
It’s a brilliant weight and it actually gives you feedback which is unheard of these days
And then there’s the damping and chassis stability
It’s not adaptive suspension but it’s probably the perfect damping for the car
It’s stiff enough to give you confidence through a corner while not beating you up on the terrible streets of West Allis
The steering is great, the damping has finesse, and there’s a real mechanical LSD in the back! There’s still some true sporting DNA in these Alfa Romeos people!
Earlier this week were in the BMW X3 which is a brilliant compact SUV
But 4 cylinder vs 4 cylinder, this Stelvio is more fun to rip around in
AND it’s more fun than a 4 cylinder Macan
So with that, let’s step outside and talk finer details
Exterior Design
So behind the wheel this Stelvio is shockingly fun..and then you step outside and you have one of the best looking and most interesting compact SUV on sale
For starters you have the classic Alfa face
With the triangle center grille
And the split lower fascia grilles
Fun fact the radar detector is offset on the passenger side grille
It’s an almost identical look to the sedan sister Giulia
And all this is draped in Vesuvio Gray which gives it a more muscular look
The headlights are large and the running lights are really dramatic
And then as we look around the side you have a veloce badge on the front fender
And underneath that you have upgraded 20 inch black wheels
With red Alfa brake calipers peeking out underneath
And then we have black accents everywhere like the wing mirrors and window treatments
The profile shape itself is sleek and makes the car look fast even standing still
The rear and roofline is very tapered similar to the porsche macan
And then around back its a simple clean and elegant design
With mirrored dramatic LED taillights
Of course you’ve got a big Alfa badge, dual exhaust, and a body colored diffuser
It looks great and it stands out on the road as something VERY distinctive so lets step inside
Interior & Features
So stepping inside here you have to temper your expectations. In terms of materials it’s not a BMW or Audi, but it’s still got nice leathers and stitching
The design itself adds to the personality though and it starts with the steering wheel mounted start button
Just something yo interact with every single time you use the car that makes it feel special
The cabin designs simple and tactile with physical buttons and switches for your climate
AND a physical dial for the DNA drive selector
D – dynamica
N – natural
A – advanced efficiency
And don’t take what i said earlier to suggest it isnt nice or doesnt have lux touches
You get heated seats in front and back
The front seat headrests get Alfa logo embossments
You get a heated steering wheel
You get a nice 9 inch infotainment screen with iDrive style wheel
You get ACP and AA
And you get a nice Harmon Kardon speaker system
And finally you have some carbon-like trimming to add some spice to the otherwise black cabin
But there are 3 really nice design elements
The cupholders have a space cut out for your phone in between
There’s an italian flag underneath the shifter
And i love the over dramatically large paddle shifters
And the technology is pretty decent too
You get a decent autopilot system with radar cruise and lane keep etc
You get traffic jam assist
And then as we head to the rear seats they’re decently sized
About the same as an X3 and bigger than a Macan
The rear seats are heated and get climate vents too which is nice
And of course thye’re black leather so it’s nice to have the pano roof to bring in light and make it feel bigger
And then there’s the trunk which is a decent size and again bigger than a Macan’s
There’s also an interesting piece to the trunk where the privacy cover is split and half goes up with the tailgate
Special thanks to International Alfa Romeo for letting us test their car!